Chapter 317

Inside the Water Curtain Cave, Sun Wukong read the contents of the jade slip back and forth twice, his expression sinking bit by bit.

"Swallowing a city in one gulp?" Sun Wukong slapped the jade slip onto the stone table. "Hundreds of thousands of mortals, swallowed just like that? Which blind demon is this?"

"It's not that he's blind," Su Chen held his teacup, his tone now returned to calm. "It's that someone instructed him to do so."

Sun Wukong raised an eyebrow.

Su Chen did not rush to explain, but turned to look at Luan Erjie.

"Go invite Senior Bai Ze to the Water Curtain Cave; tell him there is an important matter to discuss."

Luan Erjie accepted the order and left.

Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Bai Ze's figure appeared at the cave entrance.

He strolled in slowly and sat down beside the stone table.

"Speak, what matter makes you so urgent?" Bai Ze took a sip of the tea Su Chen had poured for him.

Su Chen pushed the jade slip toward Bai Ze.

Bai Ze picked it up, glanced at it, and then put it down, his expression remaining as usual.

"So it is the Golden-Winged Great Peng," Bai Ze said indifferently. "He is the son of the Phoenix and the biological brother of the Peacock Great Wisdom King Bodhisattva. By seniority, the Tathagata of that time would have to call him uncle."

Hearing this, Sun Wukong stood up abruptly.

"What?"

His golden eyes stared fixedly at Bai Ze, as if he had heard something unbelievable.

"The Tathagata's uncle?"

"That's right," Su Chen took over the conversation for Bai Ze, stood up, and paced a few steps. "And this Great Peng bird is no ordinary demon. His cultivation is at least in the ranks of the Jin Xian, and his speed is unique in the Three Realms. He has always been active near Lingshan, protected by the Fomen. Do you think a great demon of this level would run to the Southern Shan Nanjian Buzhou to cause trouble for no reason?"

Sun Wukong's expression became increasingly ugly; he was not stupid, and Su Chen's words were clear enough.

But Su Chen did not stop.

"Monkey Brother, think about it, what does the Fomen lack the most right now?"

Su Chen held up a finger: "First, they lack a protector who can replace your original position. You are at odds with the Fomen, and Qiao Ling was taken away by me, so the Fomen needs someone who can replace the existence they originally planned for your position."

He held up a second finger: "Second, Maitreya just took office and lost the Tathagata's reincarnation; his prestige within the Fomen must be questioned. He needs a beautiful victory to prove that he is worthy of the World-Honored One's position."

Su Chen turned around, looking at Sun Wukong and Bai Ze.

"Now, a peerless great demon from the Fomen runs to the Southern Shan Nanjian Buzhou to swallow a city and kill people, creating monstrous slaughter. The Heavenly Court will inevitably send troops, but this Great Peng's strength is too great; Li Jing's one hundred thousand heavenly soldiers aren't even enough to fill his teeth. After the Heavenly Court returns in defeat, the Fomen will then step in under the name of 'subduing demons and saving all living beings,' and Maitreya will personally subdue the Great Peng."

Su Chen's mouth curled into a cold sneer.

"In this way, Maitreya establishes his prestige before the Three Realms, and after the Great Peng is 'subdued,' he logically joins the scripture-seeking team to become the new protector. And the wronged souls of those hundreds of thousands of people in that city..."

Su Chen's voice paused.

"... are merely a 'necessary expense' in the Fomen's grand plan."

Su Chen's words landed.

Sun Wukong pulled the Ruyi Jingu Bang from his ear; the dark gold staff expanded to a length of a zhang in his palm, with baleful energy boiling on the staff body.

"Those bald donkeys!"

"Old Sun will go to the Southern Shan Nanjian Buzhou right now and hammer that feathered beast from the sky into the ground! What kind of damn protector is he? Is he even worthy of replacing Old Sun?"

Su Chen raised his right hand, pressing it onto the Jingu Bang, and shook his head at Sun Wukong.

"Monkey Brother, calm down." Su Chen's voice was not loud, but his words could always make Sun Wukong calm down.

"If you rush over now, you'll fall right into the Fomen's trap," Bai Ze finally spoke.

He still held his teacup, his tone unhurried: "The Great Peng causes trouble, the Heavenly Court sends troops—this is a matter between the Heavenly Court and the Fomen. If you go and defeat the Great Peng, you'll be doing the work for the Heavenly Court and the Fomen without getting a penny; if you lose..."

Su Chen paused here and corrected himself: "Well, I think although you wouldn't lose, Monkey Brother, once you appear, it's inevitable that the Heavenly Court and the Fomen will scheme against you, and then it will be troublesome."

Sun Wukong gripped the Jingu Bang, the baleful energy all over his body receding bit by bit, but the anger in those golden eyes not only didn't extinguish, but burned even brighter.

"Then we just watch? Watch that feathered beast run rampant outside and let the Fomen's treacherous plot succeed?"

Sun Wukong's voice was extremely low, which was even more heart-palpitating than a roar.

"For now, we can only watch," Su Chen withdrew his hand and sat down again.

"I know you can't swallow this anger. Neither can I. But Monkey Brother, think about it: the Demon Alliance has just grown, and you are the only Jin Xian. If we jump out now, it's equivalent to declaring war on the Heavenly Court and the Fomen simultaneously. This is not the time to enter the game."

Su Chen looked at Sun Wukong and said: "As a human, I remember those mortals who died unjustly. But now is not the time for revenge; we still need time."

Sun Wukong finally slammed the Jingu Bang into the ground with a "bang," sat on the stone chair, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Fine! Old Sun will listen to you. But that feathered beast—sooner or later, Old Sun will deal with him personally."

Su Chen nodded and turned to look at Luan Erjie nearby.

"Pass the order to Yan Que: starting from today, the intelligence network is to keep the highest priority on the Golden-Winged Great Peng. Where he is every day, what demons are around him, what magic treasures he has—I want to know everything."

Su Chen paused and added a sentence.

"Especially pay attention to whether anyone from the Fomen is secretly contacting him. Remember, only watch, do not act. No Demon Alliance spy is allowed to be exposed."

"Yes!" Luan Erjie accepted the order and left in a hurry.

Bai Ze watched Su Chen finish arranging everything, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "You are waiting for the snipe and the clam to fight."

Su Chen did not deny it.

"After the Heavenly Court and the Fomen finish this play, that Great Peng bird will inevitably be arranged in a place to wait for the scripture seeker to arrive. That will be the best time for us to act."

A cold light flashed in the depths of Su Chen's eyes.

"At that time, I want to see what other countermeasures the Fomen has."

Bai Ze nodded upon hearing this; he agreed with Su Chen's strategy, only adding one point: "Although you have achieved the Great Luo in your physical body, cultivation base is the foundation in the Three Realms. No matter how good your plans are, if your strength is insufficient, it will all be in vain in the end."

Su Chen nodded upon hearing this and said to Bai Ze: "Senior, rest assured, I naturally understand this principle. However, now that both Monkey Brother and I have passed the period of rapid strength growth, wanting to go further is not a matter of a single day or night."

"My Jin Dan Dao now has the Five Elements and Yin-Yang perfected; the path of rapid success has been walked, and to go further, I can only rely on slow, steady effort."

Su Chen sighed slightly as he said this; how could he not want to break through his Immortal cultivation to the Jin Xian realm as soon as possible?